Effects of initial stress on non-coaxial resonance of multi-wall carbon nanotubes

This paper reports an investigation of the influence of initial stress on the flexural vibration of an individual multi-wall carbon nanotube with simply supported ends, based on a laminated elastic beam model considering the van der Waals force interaction between two adjacent nanotubes. The results obtained show that the influence of initial stress in carbon nanotubes on their natural frequency is obvious, but the influence of initial stress in carbon nanotubes on the intertube resonant frequency of multi-wall carbon nanotubes is not obvious, especially for large aspect ratios. The influence of initial stress in carbon nanotubes on their flexural vibration modes is dependent on the tension or compression forms of the initial stress. This investigation on the influences of initial stress in multi-wall carbon nanotubes on natural frequency and intertube resonant frequency may be used as a useful reference for the application and design of nano-oscillators, nano-drive devices, nano-sensors and actuators in which multi-wall carbon nanotubes act as basic elements.